


Suitable for a King

by AnnieVH



Series: Rumple and the Spinsters [9]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Birthday Presents, F/F, Family, Femslash, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 12:44:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2693429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieVH/pseuds/AnnieVH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Green!" "Red!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Suitable for a King

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt by woodelf68: how about the spinsters secretly make a special gift for Rumpel and Milah to give to them when they wed? (not a wedding gift, though)
> 
> Still taking prompts for this series :)

“We agreed on  _green_!”

“We did no such thing!”

“Yes, we did! You always do that!”

“If you are implying I’m a liar, my dear, I am deeply hurt.”

“Be as deeply hurt as you want! It will be green!”

“It will not.”

“He likes green!”

“Nobody in their right mind likes green!”

“I happen to like it.”

“I rest my case. It is red!”

“Green!”

“ _Red_!”

Rumpelstiltskin stopped with his hand on the knob.

_What are these two up to now?_

“What are you two fighting about?” he asked, opening the door.

Twin shrieks responded from inside the house and, suddenly, the door slammed back, almost sending him to land on his back.

“What the-” He knocked. “Aunties?”

“One second!” they replied in one voice. Inside their hovel, things were being moved at a surprising speed.

“What is going on?”

“ _Nothing_!”

Rumpel sighed. He constantly felt like Aunt Flora and Aunt Fauna were keeping secrets from him. Much like himself, they were not very good at it.

“Aunties, open the door,” he asked, using the serious tone he had picked up from Aunt Fauna. Wasn’t nearly as authoritarian as it had to be, but he was getting there.

“Just a second!” they insisted.

“Why can’t I just go in?”

Aunt Fauna shouted, “We’re busy!” at the same time Aunt Flora shouted, “We’re naked!”

The moving around inside the house stopped abruptly.

Rumpel grimaced. “Why are you both nak- On second thought, never mind.”

“Why would you say we’re naked?” Aunt Fauna’s voice whispered on the other side of the door.

“You know nudity makes him uncomfortable,” Aunt Flora’s voice replied, much in the same tone.

“We don’t want him to be uncomfortable, we want him to  _not come in_!”

“He won’t  _come in_  if he’s  _uncomfortable_!”

“The door is thin, Aunties,” Rumpel said.

The both of them went quiet.

Rumpel sighed. Every year. No matter how many hours he decided to add to his walk, it was never enough. The two of them worked together like a clock every day of the year. January 13th was the only exception.

“Are the two of you planning my birthday present?”

After a long beat, they said, “No.” It was not very convincing.

“Right,” Rumpel sighed again. “Do you want me give you another six hours to settle the argument?”

Another long beat.

Then, Aunt Fauna decided to be practical. “Do you prefer red or green?”

“You can’t ask him to choose!” Aunt Flora said, outraged.

Aunt Fauna ignored her. “Red or green, Rumpel? Make our lives easier.”

“Red or green what?”

“I can’t tell you!” Aunt Fauna shouted.

“It will ruin the surprise!” Aunt Flora followed.

Rumpel rolled his eyes. “I don’t care. Whatever you got me, I’m sure it’s fine. It’s always fine.”

“Rumpelstiltskin, do you want birthday cake?” Aunt Fauna threatened. “Or do you want to celebrate your birthday in the forest with the ogres?”

He gave up. “Fine! Red! I want red!”

Aunt Flora shouted, “Ha!”

Aunt Fauna went quiet.

Then, “You’re confused. Come back in six hours.”

“Like hell I will,” he said, pushing the door open.

Inside, the living room looked like the usual annual battleground. Chairs had been moved around hurriedly. All three spinning wheels were out of place. The mop and bucket of water had been dropped as if in mid-cleaning. Skeins were hanging from the most unexpected places. And his aunts were standing side by side, covered in flour and eggs. He had no idea why the furniture seemed to move around every time the two of them got into a fight, but he was very glad he was never there to witness the mess. Whenever he walked in on them having a fight, they looked very startled, as if caught in a terrible lie.

“I see you had a lively discussion,” he commented.

“You know us…” Aunt Fauna started.

“Two stubborn old ladies,” Aunt Flora finished.

“Well, today I become an old man myself, so…”

He waited with open arms.

They blinked at him.

Then moved as one.

“Happy birthday, darling!”

“Happy birthday, my dearest!”

But instead of hugging him, they grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around.

Aunt Fauna ordered, “Now stare at the wall and don’t peek.”

“We’ll go and get your birthday present,” Aunt Flora beamed.

Rumpel fixed his eyes on the wall and wondered (for the 22nd time in his life) how normal people celebrated their birthdays.

He heard the furniture being dragged, and tried to look over his shoulders. “Are you fixing the room- _Ouch_!”

Aunt Fauna gave him a swat on the head and ordered, “ _Stare at the wall_!”

“I’m  _staring_! But you shouldn’t be moving heavy things by yourself. Not in your age.”

“Can it, old man!”

There wasn’t much to be said after that.

Luckily, Aunt Flora came back quickly and the moving around stopped.

“Alright, now turn around,” Aunt Fauna said, excitedly.

“But close your eyes first!”

“Yes! Yes! Close your eyes!”

Rumpel turned on his heels, eyes screwed shut.

“Can I open them now?”

“Yes, you can,” Aunt Fauna said, a little disappointed.

Aunt Flora agreed. “Wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I thought it would be.”

When Rumpel finally opened his eyes, they held his present high, with big smiles and eyes filled with expectations.

A gorgeous red cape, brimmed with silver tacks. Much nicer than everything else he had in his wardrobe.

“My god, aunties.”

“My god what?” Aunt Fauna asked, carefully.

“Good?” Aunt Flora tried.

“It’s good right?”

“Don’t tell me you’d rather have it in green.”

“Maybe it’s not too late to change it.”

“Change it? It’s perfect. Thank you.” He reached out to touch the fabric. Velvet.  _Good_  velvet. “Where did you buy it?”

“We made it ourselves,” Aunt Fauna said, proudly.

Rumpel looked at her skeptically. Sewing was not their best skill. They often made him shirts and pants, but that was about it. They were carefully made, but he often had to do the brim himself.

“What?” Aunt Fauna asked.

“We spent some extra time in it,” Aunt Flora shrugged.

“We’ve been stitching long before you.”

“And you deserved something nice for your birthday.”

“Thirty years.”

“Our darling boy.”

Rumpelstiltskin decided he didn’t want to press for answers. They had probably purchased the cape somewhere expensive, and if he found out how much they had spent, he’d probably force them to return it and take the money back. And he didn’t want to do that. He loved everything about that cape.

He loved fine clothing. During market days, he’d often steal himself a few minutes to visit stalls he could never buy from. The colorfulness of it. The different patterns. The feeling of the fabric. All much nicer than what he was allowed to have as a peasant. Not that he’d ever complain about the little they could afford.

He hardly ever had the chance to work with it, let alone  _have_  it.

His aunts threw it over his shoulder and fastened it at the neck.

“It suits you so elegantly.”

“You look like a gentleman.”

“I have no idea where I’d even wear this,” he said, but couldn’t stop smiling. “This would be better on a knight, not a spinner.”

“Nonsense!” Aunt Fauna said, pushing him in front of a mirror.

“You’re as good as a king,” Aunt Flora said, brushing the cape. “Wear it to the market!”

“Or when you do deliveries!”

“I don’t think that is very practical,” he laughed.

“Well, I’m sure the occasion will arise.”

“And when it does, you’ll be properly dressed.”


End file.
